Tim O'Toole

Playing business like golf is the perfect shot towards shooting par.

Play Business Like Golf!

One of my dreams is to play the top 100 rated golf courses in the world. Often these courses are private country clubs that hold professional golf tournaments. To date,…

Read More
Tea, South Dakota

7 on 7 with Brian Cooper

STI/SPFA recently spoke with Brian Cooper, Vice President of Business Development for Maguire, about his career in the steel fabrication industry. STI/SPFA: Tell us about the history of your company. Brian…

Read More
U.S. Capitol in Washingon, D.C.

Raise Your Voice, Raise Our Industry

It was great to see so many familiar faces and meet so many new people at the STI/SPFA Fall Meeting in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago.  I thoroughly enjoyed…

Read More
Is Your Competition on Your Payroll?

Is Your Competition on Your Payroll?

Have you ever paid the salary of one of your competitor’s employees? I am confident your answer is a resounding NO. But you may be wrong. In fact, this may…

Read More
Are Customers Your #1 Priority?

Are Customers Your #1 Priority?

There are lots of ways to make a profit. They include cutting costs, reducing overhead, improving field productivity, accurate estimating, making zero mistakes in the field, and having an excellent…

Read More
China’s current overcapacity push is ushering in a sequel to the first China shock, delivering a new blow of unfair Chinese competition.

Reshoring and China’s Overcapacity Surge

China’s economic growth rate slumped to a three decade low in 2023 (5.2 percent). The International Monetary Fund expects China’s economy to slow to 4.5 percent in 2025, and decelerate…

Read More
Pressure vessel leaving Boardman LLC

7 on 7 with Robby Hagemann

STI/SPFA recently spoke with Robby Hagemann about the history of Boardman, LLC and his career in the steel fabrication industry. STI/SPFA: Tell us about the history of your company. Robby…

Read More
Value vs. Price

Sell More Than Low Price

Have you ever been low bid on a project and didn’t get the job? It doesn’t seem fair. Why did it happen? What can you do to avoid this happening…

Read More
I'm Possible

Do the Impossible by Being Impossible

Take a moment to reflect on a time when you faced something that seemed impossible. Maybe it was a dream, a task, or an expectation. What if I told you…

Read More
Project Reshape

ASME Section VIII Division 1 Project Reshape – What is coming for 2025?

The ASME Section VIII Standards Committee approved a project scope to Section VIII Division 1 in 2022 referred to as Project Reshape. This scope is intended to create an easier…

Read More